Friday, December 4, 2015

Kings of War: Rules (Part 2)

In the last post, I went over the basics behind Kings of War including unit rules, terrain rules, and a few others. In this installment of the Kings of War Rules I want to finish up with all the other basic major rules including playing out a turn. As stated previously, a turn consists of three phases: (1) movement phase; (2) shooting phase; and (3) the melee phase.

Movement Phase
During the movement phase, units move across the board based on the movement order that they are given. There are seven (7) different basic movement orders that can be given to a unit: (1) halt; (2) change facing; (3) advance; (4) back; (5) sidestep; (6) at the double; and (7) charge. The orders are fairly self explanatory. If a unit is given a halt order, then that unit does not move in the movement phase. Change facing allows a unit to pivot around its center to face any direction (though the center of the unit must stay in the same position). Back and sidestep orders allow a unit to move either directly backward or directly to one side up to HALF the unit's movement value (but the unit cannot change facing). The at the double order allows a unit to move at double the unit's speed (or movement value) directly forward without pivoting or changing its facing. An advance order allows a unit to move forward up to its movement speed, but the unit is allowed to make a single pivot around its center up to 90* during the move and finish any of its remaining movement in that direction. A charge order allows a unit to charge an enemy unit.

Additionally, in Kings of War, when moving units, units may move through other friendly units (except when charging) so long at the moving unit does not end its move on top of the friendly unit. However, enemy units cannot be moved through and a unit cannot approach within 1" of an enemy unit except when charging or during a pivot move (so long as the unit finishes the pivot outside of 1" of the enemy unit). Units that pivot can pivot through friendly units, enemy units, and terrain (including blocking terrain) so long as the unit ends the pivot clear of the other units or terrain.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Tales of a Cryogenically Frozen Vault Dweller: Part 2

Day 2:
"Dear Pipboy,
Sleep was just what I needed. Apparently, sleeping heals all of my wounds. Even if its just for an hour. The future is amazing! And I predict that I will become invincible and rule over the Wasteland in a short time.
I headed South towards the town that damn annoying robot kept talking about. Along the way I found an old gas station. I remember this place. It was where old Mr. Johnson would always try and up-sell me on special gasoline for my car. He's obviously dead now and this place has fallen into serious ruin. There is a workshop here that I can use to build things, but building seems unnecessarily difficult and there is no one around to explain what the hell I should be doing with my life.
I also met a DOG! A normal, nice, happy, go-lucky dog. Fed him some random bits of meat that I found while wandering and he has now decided that we are friends. I have named him Dogmeat because that seems to make the most sense based on our current relationship. It's nice having a companion and something to pet. Replaces my need for Seamus. 
I found a note while searching around about a secret under the gas station. Walking around I found a cave filled with MORE GIANT FUCKING CREATURES. Seriously future world. What the fuck happened? Has nuclear radiation permeated so much of the land that all creatures great and small have mutated into horrible monsters with a taste for human flesh? 
Out of bullets so I had to beat each mole rats head in. It was not pretty and I am once again covered in scratches and bite marks. I also felt pretty woozy. Thank god for that random sleeping bag. Healed me right up.
Spent too much time trying to scavenge every last piece of metal and junk I could find in the hopes that I might be able to build a door for my house sometime in the future. It's already getting dark again. I have a flashlight though, so I am going to continue on in my adventure. Hopefully no one or no thing will notice the only light in the Wasteland as I try not to stumble over rocks."
Day 3:
"Dear Pipboy,
I would say that today was an eventful day, but that would be an understatement. Entered Concord and I actually met other humans! Though these assholes immediately tried to kill me. Apparently, if you see another human being running around the Wasteland and the person is wearing metal spikes instead of clothes they ARE NOT to be trusted. 
Spent several minutes running around and hiding in various buildings until I scrounged up some extra ammo. Then it was on! I shot a full half dozen of these crazy naked folks that were all converging on an old dilapidated historical building in the middle of town. Dogmeat also got in on the action. This boy is angry and can cause some serious damage. I am glad I found him first and had some spare meat. Don't think I would have wanted to fight him. 
Heard voices from inside the building the raiders were trying to get into, so I think there might be more people around. Couldn't decide whether to see if these were normal people or more crazed lunatics. Decided to search around the rest of town first.
Man, was spending the day searching through everything worth it. I plundered the few bits of clothes and armor from the crazies and though I look like someone from a bad music video - side note: do they still have music videos now? Or even music, as I can't get my damn radio to work. - I feel much more protected than wearing a simple one-piece suit like a lazy lab technician. 
My trashbag full of tin cans got to full and started to tear so I started back to my house to drop all this probably lifesaving equipment back at my house. Apparently I can warp from place to place now as I don't remember running back to my house. So getting around the Wasteland is going to be much easier. Time seems to pass though, as the sun was in a different place when I arrived home. But at least my legs and body doesn't feel tired from hours of walking. I'm getting into this future thing. Time for another nap." 
Day 4:
"Dear Pipboy,
Today I went back to that building in Concord. Used my warp travel to get there. It was awesome. I felt like no time had passed. The building is called the Museum of Freedom. When I entered it there were more of those crazy raider guys running around. Thankfully, I had scavenged a shotgun and between my new big-boom and Dogmeat's fangs, the raiders were killed off quickly.
This museum is crazy. There are old mannequins dressed up form the Revolutionary War in here. How did I not come here when I was a kid on some school trip? I'm sure the old school system ate this kind of kitschy shit up. I wonder if any kids still come here on school trips? Probably not with the raiders and all. But it does make me wonder if there are even schools or a government out there right now. Haven't found anything close yet. Not even a police officer or some basic government employee like a mailman.
Apparently there were people living in the museum. That is what the raiders were after. One of the people (who was obviously their leader based solely by the size of his hat) told me they were refugees from another city and were looking for a nice place to settle. These people seem cool. None of them look like they want to start shooting me and they have plenty of food and supplies that I could use. Told them to head to my neighborhood and take a couple of the other houses (not mine though) for themselves.
Before they could leave, however, I had to perform some "quest" for them. They needed me to go get a set of FREAKING POWER ARMOR from off the roof and use it to kill all the new raiders that were swarming the building. Really! It was ridiculous. I mean, they had weapons. Why couldn't they go fight the raiders. Especially after I just offered them a place to live. It was very insensitive of them. Just because I killed the dozen raiders inside the building doesn't mean I have the time or desire to go kill all the raiders between here and my house. I mean, I still have Seamus to go find and what not.
Anyways, I went on their "quest" because FREAKING POWER ARMOR. It was easy. A quick trip to the basement to break into a computer with my new hacking skills and then an even quicker trip to the roof where I found not only a set of power armor but a fully loaded Minigun. Which was awesome, because I was running out of bullets for my other guns. Let those damn raiders try and stop me with this thing. Tomorrow I head back into Concord for a skeet shoot. I can't wait!"

Monday, November 23, 2015

Tales of a Cryogenically Frozen Vault Dweller: Part 1

Perhaps you, like me, have been spending your free time playing Fallout 4 instead of doing hobby time re-basing miniatures or getting in practice games of Kings of War, Age of Sigmar, Malifaux, or whatever miniature game you moved onto with the death of Warhammer 8th Edition. I know the game has been out for two weeks now and many people will have put in more than the roughly 24 hours that I have already put into the game. In fact, there may be a few among you who have already finished the main quests, reached level 50, and even beaten the game. But, I’m not even close.
But as I have been putting more time into Fallout 4 than other hobby projects, I didn’t want to slip on providing you with interesting and entertaining content. With that, I present a new ongoing blog post (which will most likely be updated more than the hobby posts): Tales of a Cryogenically Frozen Vault Dweller. In these posts, I will be providing basic and entertaining first person information from my Fallout 4 playthrough with as minimal spoilers as possible (though some will be inevitable). For background information, I made a combination intelligent/charismatic/perceptive character with at least 5 points in each attribute. I am slightly lucky, not very agile or strong, but can endure a little bit of punishment. Enjoy!

Friday, November 20, 2015

Kings of War: Rules (Part 1)

My Kings of War Rulebook arrived a few weeks ago, but other than a quick read through to try and grasp the most basic understanding of the game, I haven't spent that much time with the rules. With end of the 2015 tournament season (except for Masters in February) and the 2016 tournament season moving towards Kings of War, now is the time to delve into the game and gain a more thorough understanding of the game's nuances. With that, I figured we could learn the rules together over the course of several posts. Thus, I present to you the rules to Kings of War.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Adepticon Registration 2016


What's that you hear? Why its ADEPTICON 2016 registration. Registration begins November 23rd at 8:00 p.m. CST. Get your clicking finger ready as I am sure that this year's events will fill up just as quickly as last year. And from what I understand, all of the hotel rooms are already booked at the Renaissance Chaumburg hotel EVEN THOUGH tournament registration is weeks away.

This year's tournament will include the return of Kings of War with the 6 round Clash of Kings national championship tournament.
Come get some!
Set your calendars and prepare.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Game Review: Forbidden Island

It's been a few weeks into the updated version of Gaming with Rhuell and all I have been talking about is Age of Sigmar. But no more. Today, I wanted to start my board game review posts with a quick, fun, co-operative game called Forbidden Island by Gamewright.

The objective of Forbidden Island is for a team of adventurers (2 - 4 players) to gather four different treasure pieces and fly off in a helicopter before the island hiding all of the treasures sinks to the bottom of the ocean. But, before we get into game play, let's take a look at the components of the game to see how they stack up.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Age of Sigmar: Tournament Comps (Part 1)

Age of Sigmar has been around for a few months and now there are several interesting tournament comps that have been developed by the burgeoning Age of Sigmar community. One of the more interesting army design rules that have developed is the Independent Pool System that I talked about last time.

This time, I want to take a look at how a couple of different tournaments that use the Independent Pool System re-work or modify some of the basic Age of Sigmar rules to make them more tournament balanced. Let's dig in.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Age of Sigmar: Pool Choices Comp

The Independent Age of Sigmar Pool Choices army composition, sometimes known as "Clash Comp" for its use as the Clash of Swords event in 2015, or as "Mo Comp" named after its main proponent Mo Ashraf (@channel_4_news if you want to check out ongoing updates), is an army composition system that uses pool choices of warscrolls to create your army for a tournament or friendly game. The constantly updated composition pack (currently at Version 1.2) is available online here. Let's take a look at how the system works.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Kings of War

My Kings of War Rulebook has FINALLY! arrived. And now it's time to crack this baby open and get some games under my belt to prepare for next year's tournament season. Especially as the U.S. Masters is moving to Kings of War for 2017. While I read over the rules and learn the game you can expect many updated posts similar to my Age of Sigmar rules review. But for now, I'm going to just read.

Friday, October 9, 2015

Age of Sigmar: Rules (Part 3 - The Unofficial Competitive Rules)

After two posts going over the basic rules of Age of Sigmar, this post covers the "unofficial" rules modifications to Age of Sigmar for competitive play. These rules are available on the internet, and can be found here. These rules specifically make clear that these modifications are completely unofficial and in no way impact the actual rules to Age of Sigmar, though these modifications do point out that they are useful or conducive to "competitive play." Thus, these are rules that should be in your Age of Sigmar games if you are going to try and play the game competitively in either a tournament setting or in a series of competitive games against friends where balance between forces is desired. Let's check them out.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Age of Sigmar: Rules (Part 2)

And I'm back to discuss Age of Sigmar. Last time, I went over the general rules for the game including army construction, setting up the battlefield, army deployment, and victory conditions. This time, I delve into the actual rules for playing a game of Age of Sigmar and address a few of the more controversial or confusing aspects of the game. Let's get into it!

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Age of Sigmar: Rules (Part 1)

The rules for Age of Sigmar have now been out for a while and the dust is beginning to settle over the game, its rules, and the tournament scene. Even though the tournament scene is in its infancy, I wanted to take this opportunity to go over the rules for the game in depth and with some basic strategy to up your games. I also want to provide a general outlook and opinion on the game and its basic rules for three different categories of players: (1) new intro players, (2) the occasional hobby player, and (3) the tournament player. Let's dive in!

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Quick Update #2

Hey there friends and fellow gamers. Gaming with Rhuell is ready to go and you can expect new posts in the coming weeks. Come back soon and check out the new format. Enjoy!

Friday, September 4, 2015

Quick Update

Hi guys (and ladies, if there are any ladies that read this blog besides my wife and Josh Stuart (burn!)). Just a quick update on the site. I have been somewhat hard at work on updating the blog to make it look a little bit better and include more information. I plan on having the outline of the site finished within the next week and will hopefully have all of the links working by that time as well. New posts should begin by the end of September in a new format. I think you guys will be pleased with the new coverage. I plan on spending more time on tactics articles, painting guides, interviews with other players, and a whole host of other things (like game reviews and let's plays) as well as some interesting videos. It should be a fun time for all.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

The Death of West Coast Warhammer

With all of the changes happening in the Warhammer world recently - the rise of Age of Sigmar, Kings of War version 2.0, and the steady creation of 9th Edition by the online community - I have decided to end this blog in its current format. I started this blog to track all the Warhammer 8th Edition tournaments that I was playing at and gauge my performance at the high-tournament level. However, since that time I have gotten married and had a child and just not had the time to devote to the tournament scene that I had previously. I have also found it harder to find interesting posts to write about now that I am not attending as many tournaments. Thus, I have decided to end this blog and change its current format as I feel that I can no longer claim to be a true tournament player. Although I will continue on with the scene as things fall into focus, I just find that now is a good time to end things as they currently stand.

Over the next few weeks or so, I will be updating this whole page and hopefully making it better. I have looked at what types of posts you seem to enjoy the most and what kind of in-depth coverage that you prefer and I hope to start bringing more of these interesting write-ups. I will also be looking at the new game systems to try and find out which ones I enjoy playing the most. I hope that updating this blog to reflect my current gaming desires will reinvigorate me and the blog. Stay tuned for updates.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Quake City Rumble 2015: Tournament and Game Overview (Part 2)

Welcome back! And without much ado, I present Part 2 of my Quake City Rumble tournament overview. I hope you enjoy this post as much as the last one.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Quake City Rumble 2015: Tournament and Game Overview (Part 1)

The Quake City Rumble was recently held on July 24-26, 2015. QCR is the largest five-round Warhammer Fantasy tournament on the West Coast and is held in San Francisco, California. This year, the tournament moved from the Fort Mason Center near the waterfront to the San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park. This was a great change. The new venue was much closer to food and libations as well as better lodging opportunities. It was also a better spot for the tournament. The room that we were in had increased air flow to alleviate the unbearable heat and stench that usually appears in a room of a hundred gamers, had better bathrooms (which didn't require a stair climb), and was a much nicer place to hang out (as the botanical gardens were right outside the venue). I hope the tournament stays at this venue next year as it made for a much more pleasing gaming experience that past venues. The tournament was also using the new Fat Mats made by Frontline Gaming which made dice rolling and miniature moving much more pleasant than the old sand boards.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Warhammer: Total War

I'm sure that everyone has heard by now that the Total War gaming series is putting out a game based on 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles. I am extremely excited about this game and I hope you are too. It looks absolutely amazing! And I just can't get enough from watching the various videos. If you haven't watched any of the trailer videos yet, I suggest you check out the announcement trailer and the battle for Blackfire Pass video. These two videos show just how fantastic this game is going to be when it comes out.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Tournament Shout-Out: Fall 2015

With the last days of 8th edition before us, and the rise of other gaming systems vying to take the crown as the major grand tournament fantasy-based game, I wanted to give a quick shout-out to several upcoming tournaments.

Infernal Zoo - October 3-4, 2015 - Davis, CA
The Infernal Zoo is going to be held the 3rd and 4th of October in Davis, California. The tournament is a yearly monster-themed fantasy event run by Alex Harrison. This year, it looks like he is running more of a weekend gaming convention rather than a standard five-round tournament. His website has recently been updated with all of the tournament information, but these are the events that he will be running if you are interested:

Saturday -
  • Warhammer 8th Edition 3-round tournament with End Times rules
  • Age of Sigmar 5-round tournament
Sunday - 
  • Age of Sigmar Championship (best 2 out of 3)
  • Kings of War showcase
  • Frost Grave showcase
  • Painting and Modelling awards
Registration for both days is $30, while a single day (like just the 8th edition tournament) is only $20. Registration increases $10 if you register after September 10, 2015. If you have any questions or wish to participate, you can e-mail Alex directly at BizzaroHammer1@yahoo.com.

Northstar GT - October 17-18, 2015 - Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
The Northstar GT is going to be held the 17th and 18th of October at the Fantasy Flight Games Center in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. This is one of the largest tournaments in the Mid-west and will be the final 8th edition tournament for Northstar. This year, the tournament is straight 8th edition with all current errata and FAQs in effect (this includes 50% lords and heroes and the Lore of Undeath), but no End Times books, units, or army lists. It will be 5-rounds and all the rules are on the website. 

If you are interested in registering (as there are still spots available), you can register by e-mailing thenorthstargt@gmail.com. Registration for the tournament is $75 and payment information is also available on the website. If you are interested, I would suggest signing up quickly as this tournament has consistently sold out.


Monday, August 10, 2015

Quake City Rumble 2015: Army List

For the last major 8th Edition Warhammer tournament on the West Coast, the Quake City Rumble (or as it came to be known over the weekend, the Wake City Rumble), I wanted to play a truly interesting and hard-as-nails Wood Elf army (or at least as hard-as-nails Wood Elves can be in the current meta in an un-comped environment). My list for the tournament was a play on the no-drop army list that hit the internet when the Wood Elf book first came out. My list was made up of the following units:

Lords:
Spellweaver - (350 pts) (Level 4, Lore of Heavens, Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Preservation, and riding a Unicorn)

Heroes:
Glade Captain - (158 pts) (Battle Standard Bearer, Charmed Shield, Dragonbane Gem, Hail of Doom Arrow, Shield, Great Weapon, Starfire Shafts, Elven Steed)
Waystalker - (115 pts) (Bow of Loren, Ironcurse Icon)
Waystalker - (115 pts) (Ruby Ring of Ruin)
Waystalker - (90 pts)

Core:
Glade Riders - (140 pts) (5 models, full command, Hagbane Tips)
Glade Riders - (250 pts) (10 models, full command, Hagbane Tips)
Glade Riders - (250 pts) (10 models, full command, Hagbane Tips)

Special:
Deepwood Scouts(190 pts) (10 models, full command, Hagbane Tips)
Deepwood Scouts(190 pts) (10 models, full command, Hagbane Tips)
Deepwood Scouts(224 pts) (12 models, full command, Starfire Shafts)

Rare:
Waywatchers - (210 pts) (10 models, champion)
Waywatchers - (210 pts) (10 models, champion)


The first thing that you might notice from this list is that there is only a single normal deployment drop: the two mounted characters. I was playing around with the no-drop list, but in an un-comped environment, I find that I need some magic offense and defense with Wood Elves and a Level 4 of High Magic on a Unicorn really fits that bill. With the 4+ ward save and Magic Resistance 2, it is really hard to kill the Level 4 and all the bonus tokens generated from High Magic also helps keep the Battle Standard Bearer alive throughout the game as the two characters can form a unit together that spends the first several turns hiding until enemy warmachines and shooting are removed from play. In fact, over the course of five games, I never lost either model.

The three Waystalkers are a lot of fun and are absolutely clutch to pick characters (especially low level wizards and 1+ armor save BSBs from large units of troops). The waywatchers help drop heavy armor. The mass amount of poisoned shots help take out monsters, chariots, and warmachines while the flaming attacks help take down regenerating units. The army is pretty straightforward in how it plays. The scouting units set up to take on the weakest flank or where they can score quick and easy points while not giving up their own points. Then the Glade Riders show up after my opponent's battle line has been pulled apart. 

I really wished I would have play tested this list before submitting it as I feel I could have performed better than I did, but the list itself is a very solid list and is frustrating for opponents to play against which is something I have always looked for after playing against so many all chariot, flying monster armies. 

Thursday, August 6, 2015

West Coast GT 2015: Tournament Overview

The West Coast GT 2015 is over (a long ass time ago now) and a great time was had by all (or at least me, as I was in the running for overall into the very last game). As usual, the tournament was held at the Elk's Lodge in Mission Viejo which has its own bar. And as usual, any tournament that has a bar in the venue will be one of my favorites. This year was no exception.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

U.S. Warhammer Fantasy Masters 2015: Tournament Overview

Depending on how active you are on the various Warhammer Forums, particularly the U.S. forum wargamersusa.com you may have heard a myriad of opinions about the U.S. Masters. Some decry that six games (four on Saturday) was too long. Others complain about the quality and armies from certain regions (most of which have never played this style of Warhammer before). And then there are the guys like me, whose main complaints relate to travel expenses and travel time, poor game decisions, and bad match-ups, but whose overall opinion of the tournament is that it is something work keeping and working to better with each year.

This post will not only go over my six (yes, six) Master's games for the weekend, but will also provide some information and opinion on the tournament itself. So be prepared for random comments and asides in my battle reports.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Going Forward: Age of Sigmar

Unless you have been living under a rock the past few days, or perhaps just on vacation with no internet access, the Age of Sigmar rules have been released in full. I have read them and I can say that they are interesting, to say the least. It looks like there could be real potential in the game if some of the more glaring issues are addressed, like standardized bases, war scrolls, unit formation, and army choices. Of course, most of these rules have not yet been released and we should be getting all the war scrolls for current armies this weekend which will give me, and everyone else, a better idea of how the game is going to be going forward.

As things are released I will be going through a full run on rules and war scrolls to help the community figure out if this is a game that we want to be playing and spending our money on. I also hope to have a few new players run through the starter with me so we can see how easy the game is for new players and whether there is serious tournament potential or if the game is going to simply become a beer and pretzels at home game (which would be disappointing to me as I get more games in at tournaments each year than I do at home or my local hobby store).

Let's just see what Games Workshop brings to the community.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Age of Sigmar

This blog has been quiet for a little bit. Don't worry. I am still going through my Masters games and West Coast GT games for some longer posts that should be out in the next week or so. But most of my time has been spent with my new son, who was born only a few short weeks ago. Have no fear, however, as I plan to get back to things with gusto as I prep for Quake City Rumble in late July and gear up for the Age of Sigmar coming on July 11th. In fact, I plan on spending a lot of time with Age of Sigmar on this blog, and have plans to work on videos of the rules and games as we all begin with a new game. Keep checking in.

Monday, April 6, 2015

West Coast GT 2015: Scenarios

This weekend is the West Coast GT 2015! A two-day battle of 70+ Warhammer Fantasy players. This year, all five games have updated scenarios. Let’s take a look at what I will be dealing with.

Friday, April 3, 2015

West Coast GT 2015: Army List

The West Coast GT is next weekend, and it is using Swedish comp as the comp bracketing system. You can bring any list you want as long as it comps higher than a 6. The kicker, though, is that for your overall comp score they double the score you bring to a maximum of 30. Thus, if you bring a 6 your score towards overall will be a 12 (missing out on 18 points that you will have to make up elsewhere) while if you bring a 15 your score will be a 30 (and you will have to work hard to not give up as many battle points). However, in comparison to true Swedish, the difference between your Swedish scores does not result in bonus victory points in the game. (Why Bill? Why?)

Seeing this system, I decided to go with a list that was higher in comp, but that could also conserve points and get minor wins so that I can eek out small wins but still place decent in the tournament. My list ended up with a solid 14.2 comp, and after playing with it and working it out, I feel that it is a better list than my Master's list. Now I wish I had gone with something more like this, as I think I would have done better over the course of the Masters tournament. This is what I am bringing:

Lords:
Spellweaver [335 pts] (-37 comp) (Level 4, High Magic, Talisman of Preservation, Hex Scroll, Elven Steed)
Glade Lord [267 pts] (-8 comp) (General, Shield, Starfire Shafts, Ogre Blade, Armor of Destiny, Dragonbane Gem, Elven Steed)

Heroes:
Glade Captain [166 pts] (-17 comp) (Battle Standard Bearer, Asrai Spear, Starfire Shafts, Charmed Shield, Opal Amulet, Hail of Doom Arrow, Elven Steed)
Glade Captain [141 pts] (-4 comp) (Starfire Shafts, Sword of Anti-Heroes, Helm of the Hunt, Elven Steed)
Spellsinger [105 pts] (-8 comp) (Level 1, Lore of Metal, Scroll of Shielding, Elven Steed)

Core:
Dryads [198 pts] (-3 comp) (18 models)
Glade Guard [215 pts] (-8 comp) (13 models, musician, standard bearer, Trueflight Arrows)
Glade Guard [215 pts] (-8 comp) (13 models, musician, standard bearer, Hagbane Tips)

Special:
Sisters of the Thorn [253 pts] (-25 comp) (8 models, full command, Lichebone Pennant)
Wild Riders [178 pts] (-9 comp) (6 models, standard bearer, shield)
Wild Riders [178 pts] (-12 comp) (6 models, standard bearer, shield)
Deepwood Scouts [102 pts] (-3 comp) (6 models, Starfire Shafts)

Rare:
Waywatchers [140 pts] (-11 comp) (7 models)

Arrow penalty: (glade lord 1, HoDa 5, glade captain 1, trueflight 13, hagbane 14, scouts 6, waywatchers 14) = 54 no penalty
Fast Cavalry: (glade lord 1, spellweaver 1, bsb 1, captain 1, spell singer 1, sisters 8, wild riders 6, wild riders 6) = 25 (-5 comp penalty) (running comp score: 142)

Total points: 2493
Total Comp: 14.2

Now its time to bring some pain to the West Coast GT!

Friday, March 27, 2015

U.S. Warhammer Fantasy Masters 2015: Army List

So the Masters was over a month ago, but I never got around to posting my list. Going into the tournament, as it was a true Swedish tournament (where you get the difference between the army composition score in bonus victory points) I wanted to come in as high as I possible could. With that thought in mind, I built a Wood Elf list that came in at a maximum 14. Here is what I came up with:

Spellweaver [335 pts] [-31 comp] (General, Level 4, Lore of Heavens, Siverjir's Hex Scroll, Talisman of Preservation, Elven Steed)

Glade Captain [156 pts] [-17 comp] (Battle Standard Bearer, Asrai Spear, Starfire Shafts, Charmed Shield, Dragonbane Gem, Hail of Doom Arrow, Elven Steed)

Spellsinger [130 pts] [-12 comp] (Level 1, Lore of Metal, Dispel Scroll, Ruby Ring of Ruin)
Branchwraith [-75 pts] [-5 comp] (Level 1, Lore of Life)
Branchwraith [-75 pts] [-5 comp] (Level 1, Lore of Life)
Branchwraith [-75 pts] [-5 comp] (Level 1, Lore of Life)

Glade Guard [-225 pts] [-8 comp] (unit of 13 with Trueflight Arrows, full command)
Glade Guard [-220 pts] [-8 comp] (unit of 12 with Hagbane Tips, full command)
Glade Guard [-212 pts] [-6 comp] (unit of 12 with Starfire Shafts, musician, standard bearer)

Deepwood Scouts [190 pts] [-6 comp] (unit of 10 with Starfire Shafts, musician, standard bearer)
Deepwood Scouts [156 pts] [-4 comp] (unit of 8 with Starfire Shafts, musician, standard bearer)
Wild Riders [178 pts] [-9 comp] (unit of 6 with shields, standard bearer)
Wild Riders [178 pts] [-12 comp] (unit of 6 with shields, standard bearer)
Sisters of the Thorn [-253 pts] [-25 comp] (unit of 8, full command, Lichebone Pennant)

Great Eagle [50 pts] [-5 comp]

There is the army in all its mediocre glory. I am working on a post about my masters games, but I can state, without any doubt, that this army under performed and that with a little play testing I could have come up with something better roughly for the same composition score. In fact, I did with the list that I am taking to the West Coast GT (which comps a solid 14.2, but still manages to have some Waywatchers in the list).

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Reader Question

It's been a while since I had checked the blog's e-mail and was surprised to see a couple of new questions. As I haven't had an opportunity to answer many questions lately, I thought I would post the question and answer it here. Note, I did answer the e-mail directly, but thought that the topic would be a good post.

This is the gist of what I received:
"I'm pulling out my Wood Elves and looking for list ideas/help, particularly with computing Swedish composition. I am having trouble understanding how composition is calculated on all the arrows/archers. Here is what I am thinking of for a coming tournament, and I think it is going to get comped really hard.
Lords:Spellweaver - Lv4, Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Preservation, Longbow, Shadow magic ( seems like a hard comp hit ) 
Heroes:Glade Captain - Hail of Doom Arrow, Enchanted Shield, Opal Amulet, ALongbow, ASpear, BSB, ESteed 
Core:17x Glade Guard - Trueflight,  Gleaming Pen, Musician
10x Glade Guard - Trueflight , Musician
10x Glade Guard - Trueflight , Musician 
Special:9x Wild Riders - Shields, Flame banner
7x Wild Riders - Shields
7x Wild Riders - Shields
3x Warhawk Riders
5x Deepwood Scouts - Starfire 
Rare:Great Eagle
10x Waywatchers
10x Waywatchers 
Any thoughts/ideas to help make it a little bit more comp friendly while maintaining its power? 
Also, I'd like to throw the Mask of Eeee in the list as a Terror bomb item. What do you think? What do you think of the "frog scroll?" What do you think of the Lore of Undeath, both in general and for certain various armies out there?"

It was an interesting question. I don't generally get people asking me about army lists, but it seems with my near constant focus on Swedish Composition and the general trend towards more tournaments using the system, that my limited knowledge is being requested. Here is what I told the reader:

Thank you for all your comments and feedback about the blog. It is a big commitment and it is always worthwhile to know that someone is reading and enjoying it. I like your Wood Elf list, and in an uncomped environment, I believe that it would perform very well. Unfortunately, as this point it really gets nailed in the Swedish system. Take a look at how this army currently comps:

Shadowweaver (-47), BSB (-17), 17 man GG unit (-8), 10 man GG unit (-8), 10 man GG unit (-8), 9 man Wild Rider unit (-19), 7 man Wild Rider unit (-17), 7 man Wild Rider unit (-23), warhawks (-6), deepwood scouts (-3), great eagle (-5), 10 man Waywatcher unit (-17), 10 man Waywatcher unit (-29), fast cavalry penalty (-7), shooting penalty (-43), scout penalty (-5) for a total composition score of 3.6. This score is lower than the 6 point minimum for most Swedish composition tournaments.

Here are a few recommendations for scaling the list back and giving it a better composition score without loosing too much power. First, take the Wild Riders to units of 6. In units of 6, they aren't comped nearly as hard (see -9 versus -14 or more) for the loss of only a single model in some of your units. At six you also aren't losing that much hitting power because very few units will have frontage large enough for all seven Wild Riders to attack and you don't want to waste models on the charge. The unit of 9 I believe is unnecessary in your list because you are not taking combat characters to back the unit up as a main combat bus. Especially as the unit itself does not have a ward save and will put a big target on the toughness 3, 4+ save unit from enemy archers and magic missiles. Part of the strength in the Wild Riders is that they are cheap enough to have multiple units that hit hard, but that don't draw your opponents focus. A unit of 9 would definitely become a priority target. Just taking these units down to three units of 6 each with shields saves you over 25 comp points and brings the list over a 6. (First unit costs -9, second unit -12, third unit -18 and a reduction in the fast cavalry penalty).

Second, the archers should either be one large unit of Trueflight (like around 20 to 23) or two units of Trueflight (one at 13 and one at 12). This allows you to maximize the Trueflight arrows without taking the additional penalty for over 25 models with either Trueflight or Hagbane. I would then take another unit of archers at probably 12 (keeping with your original number of 37 archers) and give them either Swiftshiver of Starfire arrows depending on your meta. If you think there will be lots of elves, Tomb kings, or low toughness armies I would go with Swiftwhiver. If you think there will be a lot of Daemons or Warriors of Chaos, I would take Starfire to help kill monsters. Neither of these archer types takes an additional composition penalty, and is actually cheaper, comp wise, than a unit of Trueflight arrows which will save you a few points. Keeping your total number of Trueflight archers to twenty-five will also save you in the archer penalty. From your original list to the example above you would save roughly 28 comp points (you save a lot in the archer penalty because each model with Trueflight over 25 counts as two archers). Making this change with the Wild Rider change above, and your list is already in the 8 range which is much higher than the original list and without too many tweaks or really reducing the army's power too much.

These are just two ideas that would really swing this list into playable territory at Swedish Comp tournaments.

As you your question about the Mask of Eee. I don't think it would be useful in this list. You aren't running a bunker, and there aren't many armies out there that can't get around a terror bomb. You basically need to add another cheap character to use this effectively without losing too many points, and I just feel that there will be too many times where a unit makes its check and you are now stuck charging a unit that will easily kill a Wood Elf character. Now if this was like 7th Edition when you could terror bomb units within 6" I would say go for it. But in 8th edition, with the list style you have going, I think it is a waste of 25 points plus the character cost.

Oh, the Hex Scroll. I love the hex scroll. I try and find a way to put this into most of my lists if I am at least running two mages. This is one of the funniest items in the game, and though it does cost a whopping 50 points in an Arcane item slot (where most of the best items in the game hang out), this item can be absolutely game changing. A warlock bus with characters is getting to close to your lines? Well turn a warlock into a frog and now the unit can only move 1". Daemon prince too close? Frog it and watch it die to mass shooting. Because the hex scroll drops all the models stats to 1 and they lose magic items, etc. it really is game changing, even if they don't become a frog. This item stops wizards from trying low level spells that are not as game changing because your opponent is worried that you will just let it through and turn them into a frog ruining the rest of their phase. I really love any item that forces your opponent to change his battle strategy and I think that this is one of the best items to do so.

Finally, as to the Lore of Undeath. I think that it is a really great and interesting lore. It definitely has its place in the tournament scene and certain armies can really make use of it more than others. The best army, of course, is Tomb Kings which can make sure it is generating enough dice to really put a couple of units on the board each turn. I have also seen it used with particular effectiveness with armies like Bretonnians which need to guarantee certain combats. Throwing up some ethereal creatures around the board to block flanking avenues is a great trick for that army. But, I find that for most armies, it becomes secondary to the regular caster. Most other armies have some weakness that a particular magical lore can help fix, but the Lore of Undeath is not a fixing lore. It doesn't help your own troops becomes better or hurt your opponents troops. Instead, it creates units on the board to bottle neck your opponent or bog them down. This can be useful, but because the spells are cost intensive, unless you have a way to maximize spell dice each phase, you are probably only going to get one spell off each turn (if lucky). I thought about the Lore of Undeath in Wood Elves to help offset certain match-ups, but I just couldn't find the dice to throw at the spells. I always wanted to some spell from another lore because it would benefit me immediately rather than in a turn or two.

I hope this answers your questions.


As usual, if you have any questions about Warhammer, or army lists, or the like, you can always e-mail me at westcoastwarhammer[at]gmail[dot]com. I always answer my e-mails, even if a little late. And if the question or topic is good, you may see your question up on the blog.

Friday, March 13, 2015

Waaagh!Paca 2015: Tournament Overview and Games Breakdown

Well Waaagh!Paca 2015 is over. In fact, it finished up over a month and a half ago, but with practice and preparation for the U.S. Masters, I just wasn't able or willing to write this post up. This year, I brought a Host of the Eternity King list without the use of any special characters. The list is available here.

I performed very well this year, and placed the highest I have ever placed at Waaagh!Paca. This year I came in 13th place with a combined score of 83. This year, I went 3 and 2, but was able to make up a couple extra points in battle by getting a couple of key objective points even in my losses. Combined with max attendance points, decent paint, and a sports jump, I was able to place in the top 15 (even though I was lowest score on my team). Thanks for Leadership 2's high performance (5th,  8th, 10th, and 13th) we were able to take home the Best Team award which was really great.

This year I played five great guys and got to see a lot of crazy army lists including three nasty special characters: 2 Nagash, and 1 Malekith the Eternity King. Here's how the games when down:

Monday, March 9, 2015

Start of the 2015 Tournament Season

March has arrived, and with it comes the start of the 2015 Warhammer Fantasy tournament scene on the West Coast. Although the first tournament of the year is the Las Vegas open, it was held on the same weekend as the 2015 U.S. Masters tournament which is the culmination of the prior year's tournament scene.

This year, the tournament scene on the West Coast looks like it is undergoing a transition towards more comp-based tournaments, but also expanding to more two-day events (which is always a plus). The upcoming tournaments that I know of include:

The Black Sheep Brawl: March 14-15 held in Salem, Oregon

The West Coast GT: April 11-12 held in Mission Viejo, California

The Broadside Bash: April 25-26 held in San Diego, California

SAWS: May 30-31 held in Sacramento, California 

Quake City Rumble: July 24-24 held in San Francisco, California


So far, due to the impending baby at the end of May. The only tournaments that I will be attending are the West Coast GT in April and the Quake City Rumble in July. There is still a chance that I will be attending the Broadside Bash, but that one is questionable.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Waaagh!Paca 2015: Armies on Parade

So I am back from Waaagh!Paca 2015 which happened just a little over a month ago. Right after I got back I put all these pictures on my computer, but just never managed to take the extra step of posting them on the blog as things were busy. But, as things have calmed down a little, I thought it was time to show off a large number of the armies from this year's tournament. [Note: This is a picture heavy post.]

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Hobby Room

This post, is a little late, but I was unable to update this blog after Waaagh!Paca 2015 as I was preparing for the 2015 U.S. Masters and up to my neck in work. With this little "i'm back" post, I thought I would take the opportunity to show everyone my Hobby Room/Office. As I'm sure you will notice from the following pictures, there are tons and tons of unpainted models and a lot of boxes just waiting to be open.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Waaagh!Paca 2015: Painting Update #3

Well, Waaagh!Paca 2015 is only a few days away, and after another week of painting at night, I have managed to completely finish two units and the third is very close. I'm hoping to finish it Wednesday night so that I don't have to bring any painting materials to the tournament. Here is how everything is turning out:

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Warhammer Resolutions 2015!

So last year I did a post about my hobby resolutions for 2014. Most of the resolutions related to finishing models in my hobby room, but some were tournament related. The original 2014 post is available here, but I thought now would be a good time to go back and see if I completed any of those resolutions as well as outline my Warhammer resolutions for 2015.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Waaagh!Paca 2015: Painting Update #2

Another few weeks have passed, and now I have even more of my Waaagh!Paca 2015 army painted. Let's take a look at what progress I have been able to make over the winter holidays.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Waaagh!Paca 2015: Army List

Last week I submitted my army list for Waaagh!Paca 2015 and I can say that I am very pleased with my final decision. This year I am going to play one of the new army lists from the End Times book, the army of the Eternity King. This list allows me to play both my dark elves and wood elves in the same army (and had I any high elves, I would have probably found a way to add them in too). Being able to take models from both the wood elves and dark elves allowed me to increase my overall shooting potential while still having solid magic and close combat phases for most of my games. Here is what I will be bringing to Waupaca, WI later this month:

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